Paramount - Long Beach water well project partnership stalls

PARAMOUNT - Funds have dried up for a joint well planned by the Long Beach Water Department and the City of Paramount.

The $6 million to $10 million project stalled last week because of uncertainty connected to redevelopment money used by Paramount to acquire land for the well, to be located at the northwest corner of Garfield Avenue and Jackson Street in Paramount.

Paramount bought the 0.3-acre parcel using $500,000 in redevelopment funds.

That purchase, and Paramount's plans to use up to $3million in redevelopment money to pay for its share of the well, are in legal limbo as officials scramble to liquidate assets of the now-defunct redevelopment agencies.

The reversal has officials in both cities thinking about what might have been, particularly in Paramount.

The city would have used the shared well in conjunction with another one coming online to increase the amount of water it pumps itself from roughly 60 percent to about 90 percent, according to Chris Cash, Paramount Director of Public Works.

"It would have allowed us to keep our costs down, keep our water rates down," Cash said. "It really would have been money back in the pockets of our residents, had we been able to do the project."

The Long Beach Water Department, which was paying for the majority of the well, has placed on hold its plan to drill an $850,000 test well at the site next month.

Kevin Wattier, the department's general manager, said the well was expected to produce 2,000 to 3,000 acre-feet of water annually.

An acre-foot is a measurement that represents an acre of land covered by one foot of water - enough to supply two single family homes with water for a year.

For Long Beach, which owns 30 wells similar to the proposed Paramount well, the water potential at the site is less crucial.

"It's really a cost-saving opportunity for us," Wattier said.

Cash said the issues with the land, currently deeded to the defunct Paramount Redevelopment Agency, could be resolved in about six months.

The state could order Paramount to sell the property to the highest bidder, but even in a best-case scenario in which the land is given to the city to use for the well, it will have to find a new way to pay for its share of the construction.

"It's really unfortunate, because those funds were going to be used for a project that benefited both Long Beach and Paramount," Cash said.